Tour de Flatirons: Stage 4

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I love scrambling on Dinosaur Mountain because there are so many great rocks so close together. Stage 4 of the Tour took place there and linked the most rocks we've ever done in a single stage: five. We started with Tiptoe Slab on the Front Porch and then ran over to Der Zerkle and did Sunnyside II which leads directly to the East Face of the Hand. After the tricky downclimb (an exposed, awkward ramp or a super tight, on-your-belly tunnel) you're at the Fi Fun on FI in just a minute. From the summit of FI we had our only mandatory rappel (Front Porch was fixed with two lines as well and people split on downclimbing versus rappelling). Once on the ground it was not much more than a minute before we were scrambling up the South Ramp of the Box. After a neat downclimb to the east, then north, then west, it was a long run back to the start.

Kyle ran off the front, crushed everyone and won the race. Same old, same old. But things were interesting and exciting back where I was racing...

The climbing on the Hand and FI is a bit tricky and I expected to do well here and either drop my rivals or gain on climbers I'm not usual near, like David Glennon. I was wrong. Instead I raced two guys that I have buried early in past stages: Backpack Brian and The Spy. Of course Sonia was there too, but that goes without saying. The last time we had a techy stage I was able to stay up with Sir Crimps-alot, David the Near Great, David Glennon, and close to Ryan Marsters. I had hopes that this would be a similar stage. Dang it. Wrong again. My hopes never die. I guess 'never' is a long time, but one good result seems to fuel my hope for entire Tour.

As is my role these days, I soon led the last group. All four or five us battling it out to avoid the Lanterne Rouge. For this stage that included my shadow (Sonia) and Tony. Tony fell back before we got to the Front Porch, but I caught two others that would stuck on me like stink on a warthog: Backpack Brian and The Spy. Backpack is solid, obviously, as that is a requirement of the Minions, but still I don't like that he races with a chalk bag. It's not my natural aversion to chalk, but that he needs it to feel secure. If you need chalk to feel secure, then I think maybe you shouldn't be racing. Sure, for scrambling, but racing? These need to be easy enough where the crutch of chalk isn't necessary.

Regardless, I couldn't shake these two. Three. I didn't think I could match any of them on the run out  and I tried hard to gap them. I pushed really hard to the top of the Front Porch, then eschewed the fixed lines to use my secret weapon: super fast downclimbing. I put some space behind me, all three were on me before I got to Der Zerkle. The super steep trail up to the start of this rock nearly broke me. I think I got passed by Backpack or the Spy or both on Der Zerkle, but I got them back on the Hand. They fell in behind me and ended up showing them all my secrets on this rock. It fell to the descent, once again, and here I had another secret weapon - my exposed, awkward scoot section. I executed that blazed over to FI and before I knew it Backpack and the Spy were on me. Sonia was gapped, but these two were even a greater worry for the run out.

At the top of FI there was a queue for the rappel lines. I was thankful for the rest. I didn't have a gap on these guys, so having to wait for a line wasn't a disadvantage. Sonia closed ranks, but she'd have to wait for a line, so even though she was standing just feet from me, I was effectively at least 40 seconds ahead of her. On the rappel lines were DC and the Little Monster. LM rapped really fast and I grabbed his line, the one I knew allowed me to rappel right off the end of the rope once on the ground. I blazed down the line and caught DC. When he made a minor route finding error, I got in front of him and called out directions to follow me.

At the Box I was running scared now. I had a sizeable gap on all my chasers and needed to get out of sight. DC was on me, but I wasn't worried about him. I'd never hold him off to the finish, but having him in between me and others could only help matters. I scampered up the South Ramp on the Box and somehow dropped DC. I saw the Little Monster descending from the top as I ascended the last bit. I tagged the top and descended down and off the rock, only seeing DC as a chaser.

Halfway down to the Mallory Cave I stepped aside and let DC pass. I used him as a carrot and tried to keep him in sight. He didn't know that the descent via the climbers' trail against Der Zerkle was on course, so I once again got ahead of him there. I didn't hold him off for long, though, as he passed me before I could get down to the Mesa Trail. I suffered into the finish, looking over my shoulder for any chasers. None appeared. Once again, my only advantage was in the descents. It was enough on this day to avoid being the caboose, but I'm getting closer and closer to the tip of the tail.

Fun stuff!

Derek's Report:

Crazy fun as always. 56:50+1 (huge sorry to Dan and whoever was below me on the hand. Plate of rock dislodged, and I didn't even see/notice it when stepping). I was further behind the people I usually want to keep up with (Erik, Colin, Stefan, etc.), but everyone is so darn fast! I didn't have everything today, but it's so fun racing everyone who was around me (Mt. Vinson, DG, Sir Crimps, Corn Muffin).
----
I started out strong and actually feeling really good. Better than last NCAR stage. I crushed Front Porch, staying right on Erik's feet (I mean RIGHT on him, haha). Erik passed DG and I tried to but he got in front again when the angle eased up a bit. Stefan and DG got on the rap lines, while Erik, I and Colin right behind me did the downclimb. I probably did the downclimb in PR time but I probably still held up Colin a bit.

DG passed us again going up on the connection to Mallory Cave Trail. He said something like, "Downclimbing is unfair!" as he cruised by us. I responded, "Talk about unfair!" and Colin shot back, "You're not supposed to have breath right now!"

I hit a vertical wall on the hike up to Sunnyside. I mean a wall. I couldn't go uphill for the life of me. I kept Colin behind me for a bit, but he had so much breath he said, "How's school going?" and "How's Mom?" I couldn't believe it! I was absolutely maxed and dying. He passed me before the rock.

On the rock I had to hold off Dan V who was raging up to me. I did only to the Hand, where he passed me taking a better line. Also on the Hand we could all see Cordis, who was basically up with Colin... What?? I'll have to read what went wrong in his report. :)

Dan started gapping me while I now had to hold off Sir Crimps and Corn Muffin. I reeled Dan in a bit when Crimps got too close for my comfort, and then I almost caught up when I did the Hand ramp descent while he did the hole crawl. He got some more space on Fi though and Crimps and Cornmuffin were still right there.

At the top of the raps Dan and I had to wait for DG who was being careful getting set up with the anchor below him. I fully support! Dan got the fast rope and was right above DG on the way down. I knew Dan would likely get off the skinny rope first, so I waited on it. At this point Crimps was next in line, then Cornmuffin, followed by Marsters. I zipped down my skinny and was off.

I second guessed the way over to the Box (I went the right way originally, then backtracked and started going the wrong way), and ended up basically stopping until Crimps caught up and pointed me the right way. I followed him up the Box with CornMuffin now right on me. Vinson had passed DG.

I had Corn right on me on the descent and we caught up to Crimps with DG not far ahead. Crimps let me pass and then I caught up nicely to DG, basically right in time for him to miss the Der Zerkle climbing trail and for me to drop down it. He cut over quickly though and I was only ahead of him for about 20-30 seconds before I made a small mistake and he retook the lead.

As soon as we hit the regular trail I said "Bye, David!" There was a pause and then he came back with "Yup, see ya later!" :) I actually stayed pretty close to him on the more rocky part of the trail but by the time we got to smooth stuff he was gone and passing Dan. I closed on Dan until the same point, and then I tried hard on the rollers, but just couldn't bring him in. I had John A and Crimps all but beaten, though, which was good. Corn was pretty close to me heading up the last rock steps but I probably got him by ~30 seconds or something. Dan V got me by 34 too.

Super fun course. Hurts SO bad. :)

Tour de Flatirons: Stage 3

Bowling Ball Scrambling on the First Flatiron (The Colonel, Nodin de Noggin, Colin, Herr Griebel, Ultra Lee, Deisel)

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Kid Kyle did it again. And in doing so, he also broke 10 minutes for the 10-12 pitch, 800-vertical-foot Direct East Face of the First Flatiron. That's just plain ridiculous. And Hall and Oats and the Bearded Shirtless Wonder were right on him. They put a nice gap into the rest of the field and that would have been the podium except that Shirtless dude, who seems to live in the Flatirons, get this, got lost! That allowed Hans and Franz to nab his first podium in a couple of years. He used to live on that podium. Heck, he even left this toothbrush there, he was there so often.

Gory Killer, the Modern Major General, Newguydanus, and General Lee were sprinkled behind the leaders and gapping the main peloton. The rest of the field were locked into countless mini battles with some exciting position changes. I took my usual position towards the back. I was exercising my strategy of letting the guys in front tire themselves out. Or tip over. Seriously. Guys like Clemmensen, Mt. Vinson, Blanchard, and The Colonel are so top heavy with muscles, I'm surprised they can stay upright. While someone like myself, with the ideal center of mass created by my fat reserves around my waist, is very stable. I'm like Weeble. Except that I keep falling over because my ankles are made of balsa wood.

I'm getting a bit worried that Sheri might think something is up with Sonia and me, as we appear to be nearly inseparable during a stage. When I want to attract women, like to fill the field at the Ramble, I get bupkis. When I want to repel them, it's like I'm suddenly Brad Pitt. Sonia would say, "Hey, I don't like being near you at all. You stink, you know. It's horrible back here. I'm just trying to get by." But who you gonna believe?

I tripped on the approach to the First and Sonia nearly ran me over. I rolled out of the neatly and she roared by with inches to spare. I executed one of those Ninja moves to get back on my feet and sprinted after her. Too bad we don't have video footage of this. Impressive stuff. At the base of the First Flatiron I look up and see it completely swarmed with wanna-be-scramblers Minion runners, clogging up my favorite line. I cruised up the start, passing Jon O's, I think. I couldn't tell. I moved to the left and started paddling up a line I'd never taken before. Momentum helped stick me to the rock but a couple of minor foot slips focused me right quick. I had Sonia in tow and didn't want to take her with me should I slide down. Dammit, woman, get in behind those other Minions on the proper line!

I merged into my favorite line above, having passed a few other Minions. Sonia veered even further to the left. Alas, I'm free! I think I passed Mt. Vinson near here and he said, "I was wondering when you were going to come by." There's a novel thought to be sure. Not many people wonder this about me, as I don't usual pass anyone. But I know the First Flatiron. I know it very well. Sure, not like Stefan, who I'm absolutely sure could climb this rock blindfolded. I couldn't walk to my own bathroom blindfolded.

I got up to the tree at the top of the first pitch and veered further left on my standard route and there's BRB back in her usual spot, three feet behind me! It went that way all the way up to the top. The usual massive pain in my lungs and legs. I had to get to the rappel lines before her. If I have any advantage it is sliding down a rope. I don't need any fitness or skill. Just mass. And I've got that. Perfectly distributed, as previously discussed. At the summit I find Captain Koch is hanging off the side of the cliff, holding out a free line to me. I'd given the riggers explicit instructions to keep a line free for me. I was on it in a flash and the Captain checked my rappel device, while I hastily pulled on my glove. I was away in seconds and on the ground 20 seconds later and bouncing down the trail until the rope pulled free of my device, passing Sir Crimps-alot in the process. BRB, so out of oxygen that she forgot how to put her rappel device on the rope and had to re-do, fell back.

I dashed down the trail to the Sunset Flatironette and then down the climbers' trail towards the Second Flatiron. Crimps was closing fast and I stepped aside to let him pass. I didn't want to push the pace too much here for fear of snapping the balsa. I followed him to the base of the South Sneak, all the while with my ears pricked up like a Boston Terrier listening for signs of a beet red Irish crusher.
I fell in line behind Crimps on the climb. He veered to the right, on the correct route (kudos to him for that), and I followed the easier, shorter line of least resistance - the Modern Major General variation. When Crimps traversed back over, he was just above me and I was doing my best Sonia impersonation following him.

Just before the last piece of the Second, I took a new variation to the right, lower, and slipped in front of Crimps. I didn't expect to stay there, as he's a faster runner, but thought I might be able to hold it until the top of the Sunset Flatironette. I executed the top section quickly and got a 20-second gap on him by the summit. There I found a traffic jam. David "Crazy Fast" Glennon was demonstrating that vertical downclimbing is not the same as road running. Alexander The Not-As-Great-As-I-Previously-Thought and the Little Monster were there observing this demonstration. Normally, I'd fall into line as well, but I had a bogie on my tail. I downclimbed more directly, hoping to bypass the jam, but it was too radical and I traversed back almost getting in front of the Little Monster, but he's wiley and agile and I got pinched off. Once on the ground, those three gapped me nicely, as I did my usual water buffalo impersonation along the trail and through the woods to the base of the Sunset Flatironette.

Glennon stepped aside there and the Great and the Monster went by, but I was too far back. I caught Glennon on an easy section of this rock and paddled by him ferociously, instructing him not to let Sir Crimps-alot by. The Monster felt me coming and I could hear him above urging on the Great: "Come on, man, they're coming!" I had just enough breath to respond, "Easy up there. Don't rush him." The Great was on one of the crux sections of Sunset and needed to take it carefully. In fact, everyone did such a great job of slowing down and being solid when they needed to be and everyone just fell in line and let them work it out (if they couldn't find a way around). Alas, I gassed myself passing Glennon and the Great and the Monster pulled away nicely, with the Monster passing the Great and disappearing from my view for the rest of the stage.

Glennon proved a nice buffer between me and Sir Crimps-alot. Previously, I assumed he'd run by me on the long descent, but now, finally, I was full-on racing him. It's only legal to race two other people in the Boulder City Open Space and now I was racing the Great and Sir Crimps-lot. Game on, youngsters (we old people can call anyone a youngster).

I topped Sunset and scrambled off the backside to the old "trail" leading down to the Saddle Rock Trail. I could see The Great ahead of me and, remarkably, I wasn't losing ground. Joe Grant was back here and he urged me on. I was carefully picking my way down the technical terrain, trying so hard not to twist my ankle, moving at approximately the pace of my mother-inlaw with her bum foot, but actually on the edge of my control. I think at one point Joe was just walking along next to me checking his social media feeds on his phone.

Down on the trail, I started to close the gap to The Great. I knew I had little chance of passing him and wouldn't be able to once we hit the rock, but my biggest concern was Sir Crimps-alot. I didn't dare look back for fear of tripping but not terrier ears were on red alert for any footfalls. At the base of the last scramble, the Second Pinnacle, was Lady Crimps-alot her the 3-year-old lad Owen. The tyke cheered on the Great and I, not knowing we were putting the hurt on daddy. Thanks, kid.

In the chimney, the Great is fading and I'm so close behind him that I'm giving his butt a boost with my head. He cramps up on the move to the right and. As we pause to let the muscle release, Sir Crimps-alot arrives at the base, ready to slay any dragons above. Ack! Now it was my turn to urge on the Great. Above, still cramping, he graciously stepped aside and let me pass. I motored on up to the summit, hurting so badly, but nearly ready to do a Cordis-style jumping descent to maintain my position. Instead, I made myself slow down and be solid on the descent. I had slipped at the very bottom of this descent on a preview (with Sir Crimps-lot, as it turned out) and nearly had a nasty fall. As I started down, I could see the Little Monster finishing up the descent. There would be no catching him. I was solid and made the ground safely. I hurried down the gradual switchbacks and back onto the Amphitheater Trail for the final run out, finally secure that I wouldn't be passed.

So ridiculously funny! I didn't think it could get better after Stage 2, but this was even more fun for me, probably because it played more to my strengths.

Derek's report:
The race was just so good, as always. Though I’m disappointed Stefan and Colin couldn’t have gotten off-route again for me... selfish... smh.

Still, I had a good race with Ryan Monster and David Alexander, spiced with David Glennon and The Colonel Sanders.

Ryan and David hounded me on the First, passing just on the edge of out of sight, while I barely held off Sir Crimps. Connor Koch gave some sweet rope courtesy for the rappel and I was down quick and hot in pursuit. I passed Ryan once we hit the gully proper. Then I passed David A only to immediately go off route, got passed, then passed again shortly before the 2nd. I managed to hold off my chasers in the second, and passed David G at a tricky traverse section where I went higher. He apologized but I said there was no problem.

Higher up Ryan and David were chatting it up, wasting breath being nice to each other and me. I mustered some response but was more occupied with hurting.

I gapped them over to Sunset, and then caught up to Erik S on the upper part. He had gone right where I go left, so I said I didn’t know where to go other than stay left. I still managed to overshoot the steep jug move and quickly Erik was by me again.

I had a rough time linking to Saddle Rock. I looked a pretty big rock and stopped to make sure it wouldn’t move more. It didn’t get going very fast. I just felt slow. Erik was gone as soon as he hit the descent. I got to the chimneys and luckily had put some more time on my chasers. I summitted T2 and could see Erik on the down climb, but again, as soon as he touched dirt he was out of sight. Boy can move.

Danny's report:

I self identify as a climber, and have never enjoyed running. In high school track, I did the jumping events and would go to great lengths to avoid even the warm up runs. Yet, clearly it’s time to embrace this shit. This stage simply had too much climbing for me to have any sort of advantage. Of course, that’s mostly because the other guys I’m racing are all really really really fast on these rocks!

I trotted to the 1st with control and poise, getting there just behind world class David Glennon. Then things went sort of to shit for some reason. I made an altogether sketchy pass of David and nearly lost control of both feet. After a second I collected myself and got my head straight. I punched out a pretty solid (for me) lap on the first. I wish I would’ve taken a split as it was almost certainly a PR. Alas watch buttons are a far cry from feasible in the midst of a tour stage. Despite the good jaunt, Ryan passed me at the party ledge.

Stefan, as I had expected, was right on my ass for most of the 1st despite me beating him to the rock by a healthy margin. He’s done our most famous rock faster than anybody else in the race though, so I knew he would catch me here. When we got into the DC I thought I might get treated to a show, with him perhaps jumping clean over me or something crazy. Thankfully it didn’t come to that and I managed to hold a slight lead.

I kept expecting to catch Ryan any second, but every time I looked up he seemed further, or I would maybe glimpse Kilgore instead. By the time I saw him DC-ing sunset in the all too distant horizon, I knew the race was over for me. Now I just had to make sure I beat Stefan.

On the run to tower 2 I started to hear somebody catching me up and thought “ah shit, Stefan!” In the chimney I hear “Danny!” And look down and it’s actually Tony Krupicka. He fucked up S Sneak something fierce, and ended up doing FFA. Obviously this did not give him any sort of advantage. He passed me on the climb but as he clogged the upper chimney briefly I had a second to look down. Ah shit! “Eric is that you!?!” Yep, Eric Lee ladies and gentleman, he of sub 5m miles was now right behind me! Well needless to say I didn’t fuck around much on the run out. Barely squeaked it.

I honestly had a pretty good performance today, so it really just comes down to an altogether stellar performance by Ryan who, I think snagged 3rd. This stage pulled out all the stops. An absolutely all time linkup. In the lot I couldn’t help but marvel that 2 years ago sub 60m on just the first was a big deal. Me and about 10 other guys just got sub 60m on the first, second, sunset, and 2nd pinnacle! What a bunch of freaks!

Sonia's report:
Painful approach to the first, pretended to be Bill's shadow as per usual. 

Felt pretty good on DEF, took some weird variation on the start behind Bill that let us pass a bunch of people. Usually rapping is my best ability but this time I managed to put my rappel device on backwards and had to take it out and then got tangled in the other line on the way down, losing sight of Bill on the way.

Found the base of SS pretty good, getting some good vibes from a barefoot Adrian on the way up. I started catching up to some people but then got confused on the Pullman car and chimneyed up the side of it, arriving on the downclimb ledge. Tagged the summit then went back down and got kind of confused on the way to chase the sun, mainly bushwhacking down the hill through large boulders.

Too many o's was catching up to me the whole way up Sunset as I took every single tiny summit on the way up and had to reverse several times. Happily, I met the spirit of David Glennon at the top of Sunset and he guided me down the hillside until we got to the trail. I caught Glennon again on the second pinnacle but wasn't able to return him the guiding favor since I made the climbing look pretty hard and he took a different way.

All in all a successful outing!

Full Results:

Need some more times...

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Scrambler	Stage 1: Slab to Fiddlehead to Onoclea		Stage 2: Front Porch to Angels Way to Hillbilly Rock		Stage 3: DEF on First Flatiron to South Sneak on Second Flatiron to Chasing the Sun on Sunset Flatironette to South Face of Pinnacle Two
	Place	Time	Place	Time	Place	Time
Kyle "I Didn't Run in HS" Richardson	1	0:46:55	1	0:46:33	1	0:46:46
Cordis Hall "and Oats"	3	0:49:35	16	0:59:45	2	0:51:48
Ryan "Hans and" Franz	7	0:56:06	6	0:51:16	3	0:54:11
Jason "Halloween" Killgore	13	0:57:55	2	0:48:34	4	0:55:24
Logan Newguydanus	5	0:50:40	4	0:50:26	5	0:55:55
Anton "Overtrain" Krupicka	4	0:49:50	99		6	0:56:09
Danny Gilbert "and Sullivan Modern Major General"	6	0:55:32	5	0:51:02	7	0:56:52
Eric Lee "I Play the Cowbell Roth"	8	0:56:25	3	0:49:56	8	0:57:25
Stefan "Herr" Griebel	9	0:56:48	10	0:57:35	9	0:58:44
Colin Simon "and Garfunkel"	15	1:00:40	15	0:59:23	10	0:59:16
Nodin de "Noggin" Saillan	27	1:07:56	20	1:02:23	11	1:00:30
Erik "The Colonel" Sanders	12	0:57:28	7	0:56:43	12	1:02:51
Derek "Deisel" Wright	18	1:01:26	8	0:57:13	13	1:03:16
Ryan "The Litlle Monster" Marsters	19	1:02:28	22	1:03:42	14	1:04:35
Bill "Satan" Wright	23	1:06:02	19	1:00:30	15	1:05:34
David Alexander "the Great"	17	1:01:18	11	0:57:57	16	1:06:00
Sir Brian Crim"ps A Lot"	21	1:04:39	13	0:58:25	17	1:06:24
Sonia "Beet Red" Buckley	26	1:07:25	21	1:03:06	18	1:08:49
Jon "I like o's" Oulton	25	1:06:55	23	1:04:20	19	1:10:11
Dan "Mount" Vinson	36	2:15:12	14	0:58:55	20	1:10:19
John Alcorn "Muffin Top"	24	1:06:35	18	1:00:01	21	1:10:34
Zach "The Spy" Ryerson	28	1:08:10	30	1:15:12	22	1:11:22
David & Glennon"ith"	14	1:00:22	12	0:58:20	23	1:12:54
Brendan "I'm no Barry" Blanchard	30	1:13:54	25	1:05:04	24	1:14:33
Angela "I'll Report My Time When I'm Good and Ready" Tomczik	29	1:11:21	26	1:06:19	25	1:17:28
Rush "To Judgement" Combs	99		34	1:45:09	26	1:30:01
"Turn the" Page Weil	31	1:20:27	32	1:27:03	27	1:33:00
Darren "Freezeway" Smith	33	1:20:39	33	1:29:30	28	1:33:10
Derek "I love e's" Clemmensen	16	1:00:41	9	0:57:20	#VALUE!	?
Brian "I Race With A Backpack" Lehman	35	2:04:45	31	1:16:49	#VALUE!	?
Max "Jonathon Livingston" Seigal	99		99		#VALUE!	?
Maury "The Bird Is the Word" Birdwell	99		99		#VALUE!	?

Tour de Flatirons: Stage 2

Missing from photo (retrieving ropes): Danny, David G., Ryan F., and Darren

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Looking at the photo above, I'm instituting a new rule: Mt. Vinson is required to wear a shirt!

Seriously, though, that dude is an ab model. Maybe there is something to this Crossfit bullshit...except that he didn't win the  stage. That skinny dude with the hat, third from the left in the back row did. He was definitely helped by the absence of Kyle and Cordis, though. Kyle did actually win the stage, but he ran in the morning, with Cordis, and wasn't able to compete with the field. Something about a friend's lifelong commitment and all... And without the full field, Cordis got lost. Poor little defending champion... It isn't over yet, but Kyle is looking like a lock to take his first title.

The podium is far from set, though, especially with Cordis' mistake and Jason Killgore missing the first stage and having to make it up solo, which is much slower. Logan Newguydanus is currently in second, which brings up another idea for a new rule: No more recruiting from the Glennon/Messner stable of uber athletes with foreign-sounding last names. Let's Make The Tour Slow Again! 

Just kidding. At least until I'm last. Which I'm not. Yet. Thanks, Tony! 

So, the stage. Jesus, what fun. What pain. Such craziness all around with people going off course in at least three different locations, placement changes aplenty, countless minor falls, and a very modest amount of bleeding for a stage called "There Will Be Blood Stage." Well done, Minions.

Killgore reasserted himself as the fastest Minion over the age of 24. He blasted the course, running 48:34 and one of only three to break 50 minutes. The other being a suddenly expert scrambling Eric Lee Cowbell Roth. Where did this come from? New rule number three: Eric must be drug-tested at his cost at the end of each stage. Or at least make his EPO dealer available to everyone in the Tour!

Danny, the Modern Major General, and Hans and Franz (that's only two total scramblers there), are locked in what seems to be a mortal battle. They run the stage as Siamese twins that don't get along, with one finally breaking the bond at the very finish. This time it was the General bounding up the final steep rock steps like LeBron James taking it to the glass.

I started at the back with Sonia right on my butt. We gapped Angela pretty early, but she wasn't that far back. Sonia and I passed Brian With the Backpack early on and caught up to Brendan just before Front Porch. I took a clean line up the Front Porch and a different line than I had been doing. It was bit to the left. Sonia remained so close behind me that I was afraid I'd step on her hands.

Backpack Brian pulled up next to me and got his nose in front, but I poured it on and made the top of the Front Porch just ahead of him, with Sonia behind him. The queue was two deep at the rappels, so I didn't hesitate and immediately started the downclimb. I caught Nikita here and followed him up to the saddle and down the steep trail with Corn Muffin just ahead of us. I passed a few people with my downclimbing maneuver and I hoped that I had gapped Sonia for good.

I cruised down following Nikita and Corn Muffin until they made a slight mistake and traversed too hard to the left. I got in front of Nikita here, but Corn Muffin opened up a big gap and was gone. I hit Skunk Canyon and started the most painful hike of my life. Getting to the base of Angel's Way hurt so bad and I was barely moving. I think I went too hard on the descent and I was paying now. Nikita closed up right behind me and John O's was right behind him and, gosh dang it, Sonia was right behind Jon. Dammit. My effort on the descent was for naught.

No one asked to go by me and I didn't have the breath to offer it. They were going to have to ask. At one point I tried to way Nikita by, but I don't think he saw my gesture because he didn't react. I didn't stop or pause, I was just urging him one. Once on Angel's I led for a hundred feet or more before Nikita passed on my left. Further up I made a mistake at one crux section and Jon went by me. Now Sonia was once again so close, that I barely had time to move my foot before her hand would go into the same spot.

Further up, at another crux section, Nikita paused, not sure of the best way. Jon went by taking a tougher route and I took an easier route and Nikita fell in behind me. Further up, I found an efficient solution to another crux and closed on Jon a bit before he pulled away again.

Hiking up to the saddle behind Satan's I was pretty close to Jon and we had gapped Nikita and Sonia. We flew down the slippery descent and amazingly I caught up to Jon and he graciously let me by, but followed right on my heels.

Just as we started down the gully to Hillbilly, Corn Muffin reappears. He had started down to the north of Hillbilly and had to correct. Corn Muffin took Derek's more difficult start and I went my easier, faster way and got in front of him, with Jon a bit further down. Above me was David Glennon and I closed on him, nearly pulling even with him and then followed him to the top. We both got on the rappel ropes at the same time, but I descended at warp speed...right into the tree below. I tried for just a couple of seconds to free the rope from the tree before giving up and getting off rappel and downclimbed the boulders and cut right to the descent trail. I had David on my heels and then Corn Muffin who closed and passed David. I led maybe half the descent before stepping aside at a switchback and cheered Muffin and David on by. On told I fell fell times, all minor butt bounces, but this last one I put my hand in a cactus. Bummer. I couldn't keep up with the two in front but did my best.

I hit Skunk and was running scared. David was soon out of sight, but I could see Corn Muffin most of the way out. On the hellish climb out of Skunk up to the water tower I was so afraid of Jon or Sonia or Nikita getting a glimpse of me and urging them on, that near the top I squatted a bit in an attempt to conceal myself behind the tall grass, so badly did I not want to be seen. I power hiked that hill and all the remaining hills. I was on the rivet with nothing left. I couldn't catch Muffin, but I wasn't far back. On the final climb up to the Mesa Sheri urged me on, thinking I could still break an hour. I knew I couldn't and power hiked the hill, hurting badly. I did my best to run it in, but it wasn't pretty and it wasn't fast: 1:00:30.

Derek's report:
I battled Erik and Colin on the run in (they probably didn't know I was battling them, because they were winning, but they were at least my carrot), then Stefan on the Front Porch -- a battle which I lost on the ascent. But I was right with him on the descent.

After we turned up towards Angel's Way, Erik S and David Glennon came back to us when they got off track on a different rock. Quickly I was dropped by all three of them and then was desperately battling Dan V and Sir Crim(ps), trying to hold them off, barely chugging up the trail.

On Angel's (holy crap that's a long rock!), Dan and Brian reeled me in, but I reeled in David G. Dan passed me at some point, but didn't hear David higher up saying "stay low" for a connection onto another piece. I heeded the advice and was in the lead again, with Colin in sight! Again I fell backwards. David G passed me but I stayed in front of Dan. When we got to the second to last piece, we saw Stefan, Colin, maybe Erik S(???) and David Alexander downclimbing the top piece!! David G was starting up it and asked me if we had to go to the top. I said no and now I was in the lead of all of these guys! Yikes! Such pressure, haha.

I nailed the descent to Hillbilly, thankfully and gapped Dan a bit, but we had a big crew getting on the rock. I went my harder, thinner way, mainly so I wouldn't hold them up, but also because it would give my followers pause and make them have to look for the better, easier way. I got up and quickly went around the corner, out of sight.

Erik and David Alexander caught me on this rock, and Stefan was closing hard again. David A cramped here taking a huge step, but shook out and passed me again. We got to the rappels and there was one open rope, Erik and David on the other two. Sweet. I took it and Stefan went immediately to the downclimb. I rap'd right over him and wanted to go way down the gulley but my rope was wrapped on a tree. I got off and started chasing Erik. David A was going a little slow here and I passed him as well.

I messed up the descent a little bit here, missing a hard left turn, and unfortunately had Stefan following me. We just "ran" the river bed for a little until we were back on the trail. As soon as I was on flats I was dead. Erik was out of sight, and Stefan was right on me.

When we got to that godforsaken hill after the bridge, Stefan passed me running while I walked trudgingly, warning "Those runner guys are after us!" All I could do was shake my head. David A was right behind, but also hurting. I was right on Stefan's butt up to the water tower, where I passed him and got a teeeny gap at the bottom of the hill. I ran the rest of the way out, including the steps. Stefan was right on me until those steps, and I just resolved to SUFFER. I sprinted it home and held off Stefan and David A. after him.

Summary: My goodness that was so fun. I was battling 7-8 guys throughout and just dying the whole way. Can't wait to die next week too!

Danny's report:

Holy shit that was some serious effort. I had three goals: beat Cordis’ extremely handicapped time, beat Ryan, and beat Eric. 2/3 ain’t bad.

After yesterday’s entirely too cocky start I played it a little cooler today and we also had a slightly cooler field without the hot shit kids up front. I got to the rock nearly in step with the remainder of the field or at least not too far in front or behind anybody. A slightly reduced crew meant I had my own line on FP which was good and I maxed out. Eric topped out just ahead and Ryan just behind. Ryan downclimbed and we three remained in step for the descent, where Lee made an impressive yet accidental baseball slide under a log.

On the skunk slog I started to feel thrashed, noticing my breaths came with a bit of a wheeze. Here Logan, clearly by way of a route error (he was ahead) passed me. I gave Angels my best but it crushed me and Ryan passed me. I lost sight of all my competition here but recharged considerably on the descent to HB.

When I threw onto hillbilly, Ryan was suddenly only a few feet away and Eric/Jason/Logan were only just ahead. I hammered it out as best I could and got in front of Ryan and just barely hit the rap as Eric started down.

The red line tied up I had to take the stupid blue line which was fucking aweful. I burned completely through my bandanna and there was no way I was stopping. At the cost of some skin I kept it in control but then I realized that rope was tied to the fucking tree and I couldn’t rap off the end. Ryan rap passed me. It was rough.

I hung tight on the descent, and even snagged Eric Lee’s dropped rap device. Here, in skunk, Logan passed me again. Dude was having a rough go of the route finding apparently, but made up for it by being waaaay fit. Now with Eric, Ryan and I so close I knew there was no fucking way I would outrun Eric, but had a shot with Ryan. I played it close until the final hill and we repeated last years ncar stage, with me nabbing the lead right at the end. Eric beat us both by like a minute or something stupid like that. Cat can fly.

Man that was fun! Ryan and I are almost identical fitness, it’s insane. Makes for some absolutely killer competition, and some stout times. Stoked!

Full results:

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Scrambler	Stage 1: Slab to Fiddlehead to Onoclea		Stage 2: Front Porch to Angels Way to Hillbilly Rock
	Place	Time	Place	Time
Kyle "I Didn't Run in HS" Richardson	1	0:46:55	1	0:46:33
Jason "Halloween" Killgore	13	0:57:55	2	0:48:34
Eric Lee "I Play the Cowbell Roth"	8	0:56:25	3	0:49:56
Logan Newguydanus	5	0:50:40	4	0:50:26
Danny Gilbert "and Sullivan Modern Major General"	6	0:55:32	5	0:51:02
Ryan "Hans and" Franz	7	0:56:06	6	0:51:16
Erik "The Colonel" Sanders	12	0:57:28	7	0:56:43
Derek "Deisel" Wright	18	1:01:26	8	0:57:13
Derek "I love e's" Clemmensen	16	1:00:41	9	0:57:20
Stefan "Herr" Griebel	9	0:56:48	10	0:57:35
David Alexander "the Great"	17	1:01:18	11	0:57:57
David & Glennon"ith"	14	1:00:22	12	0:58:20
Sir Brian Crim"ps A Lot"	21	1:04:39	13	0:58:25
Dan "Mount" Vinson	36	2:15:12	14	0:58:55
Colin Simon "and Garfunkel"	15	1:00:40	15	0:59:23
Cordis Hall "and Oats"	3	0:49:35	16	0:59:45
Will "Be Your" Porter	10	0:56:53	17	0:59:58
John Alcorn "Muffin Top"	24	1:06:35	18	1:00:01
Bill "Satan" Wright	23	1:06:02	19	1:00:30
Nodin de "Noggin" Saillan	27	1:07:56	20	1:02:23
Sonia "Beet Red" Buckley	26	1:07:25	21	1:03:06
Ryan "The Litlle Monster" Marsters	19	1:02:28	22	1:03:42
Jon "I like o's" Oulton	25	1:06:55	23	1:04:20
Nikita "The Weatherman" Simonian Saysian	99		24	1:04:30
Brendan "I'm no Barry" Blanchard	30	1:13:54	25	1:05:04
Angela "I'll Report My Time When I'm Good and Ready" Tomczik	29	1:11:21	26	1:06:19
Craig Randall "McDaniel"	20	1:03:30	27	1:08:04
Jonathan "6 AM? Seriously?" Hinderliter	99		28	1:13:33
Tony "Hubba" Bubb"a"	32	1:20:29	29	1:13:59
Zach "The Spy" Ryerson	28	1:08:10	30	1:15:12
Brian "I Race With A Backpack" Lehman	35	2:04:45	31	1:16:49
"Turn the" Page Weil	31	1:20:27	32	1:27:03
Darren "Freezeway" Smith	33	1:20:39	33	1:29:30
Rush "To Judgement" Combs	99		34	1:45:09